Videographic Entanglements: School of Arts and Humanities

Videographic Entanglements focuses on the meaning and implications of video as a form of knowledge across multiple disciplines. As the production, editing, and sharing of video becomes increasingly widespread and inexpensive, new forms of interdisciplinary thought and collaboration are enabled. Transformations in video-based technologies have already had considerable impact in the areas of film studies, performing arts research, contemporary art, and anthropology.

The Project

This project, led by Dr Ben Spatz from the University of Huddersfield’s School of Arts and Humanities, brings together researchers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to discuss the emergence of new videographic languages, from the ethics of audiovisual production to the aesthetics and cultural significance of video editing techniques. 

Outputs include contributions to online video essays and open source videographic journals as well as written articles and books that address ‘video ways of thinking’ about and with the world. Dr Spatz also held a major international symposium at the University of Huddersfield in 2023. 

Partner Institutions

• Aarhus University (Alan O'Leary)
• Coventry University
• Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
• University of Zurich
• Uniarts Helsinki
• York St John University
• National University of Film and Theatre, Romania
• Oxford University
• Manchester University
• University of Michigan
• Salford University

International Partnerships

The ‘Videographic Entanglements’ symposium was an international event held at the University of Huddersfield in October 2023. Consisting of roundtable discussions, presentations and workshops, it focused on interdisciplinary videographic research, involving videographic film criticism, performance-based video, visual anthropology, experimental filmmaking and video art. 

The symposium aimed to foster an international network for videographic scholarship, addressing the ethics of capturing, editing, and representing human and non-human bodies on screen, with considerations of race, gender, ability and identity dynamics. 

This symposium brought together scholar-artists and researcher-practitioners from the varied worlds of videographic film criticism, performance-based video, visual anthropology, experimental filmmaking, video art, and more. It provided a platform for us to exchange ideas, questions and desires to shape the future of video.

Dr Ben Spatz, Reader in Media and Performance in the Department of Communication

About the Researchers

Dr Ben Spatz is a Reader in Media and Performance in the Department of Communication and Humanities. They have authored three books and is founding editor of the videographic Journal of Embodied Research and the Punctum imprint Advanced Methods. Their work has been presented at more than thirty institutions in eighteen countries. 

Find out more about Dr Ben Spatz.